Page 55 of When the Fake Snow Falls

“Please,” Miles says with a nod.

Chase turns to me. “Let me buy you a drink.”

I beam at him. “Okay.”

His mouth quirks as he stands. Before walking away from the table, he stops by Amanda. “Can I get you something, too?”

She smiles up at him. “Pinot Grigio would be great. Thank you.”

As soon as Chase and Elvis head toward the bar, I turn my attention to Miles. “Um, he’s funny.”

He lifts his chin. “I know.”

“And hot,” Amanda chimes in.

Miles lets out a laugh. “Amanda, you think everyone is hot.”

Her eyes widen. “Not true! I just happen to be sitting at atable with three exceptionally hot men who are all unavailable to me.”

“I mean, Chase technically isn’t unavailable.” My eyes drift up to meet hers.

“Oh, please.” Miles shakes his head. “That man adores you.”

I arch an eyebrow and say nothing.

“Don’t get me wrong, he might still be a fuckboy. But if he is, he’s a fuckboy who adores you.”

A breath of laughter leaves my lips. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

He flashes me his best smile. “Anytime.”

Amanda puts her hand on mine. “Just see how things go after the Christmas party. It’s less than a week away. If you’re really not sure where he stands, see what happens after Friday.”

Chase returns with our drinks a minute later, saying, “Ladies,” as he sets a glass of Chardonnay in front of me and hands Amanda her Pinot.

We thank him and Elvis slides back into his seat next to Miles.

“So, we know Elvis is an accountant, but what do you do for work?” Amanda asks Chase.

He takes a sip of his beer. “Nothing exciting.”

“I’m anaccountant.” Elvis emphasizes by putting a hand on his chest.

Chase smirks. “Okay. Maybe my job is a little more exciting than accounting, but not by much.” He turns his attention back to Amanda. “I work in advertising.”

Her eyes grow wide. “Ooh. Would we recognize any of your campaigns?”

He thinks for a moment. “Yeah, maybe. The one I did for Lexus has gotten a lot of airtime.”

Amanda gapes at him. “The one with the woman who hates all the noise at the gas station?”

A humble smile stretches across his lips. “That would be the one.”

I know the exact commercial they’re talking about. A woman is pumping gas and everything around her is so loud. Someone blaring music, a toddler demanding something from his mother, construction and horns blaring in the distance. But when she gets into her car, everything goes quiet. It ends with words coming up on the screen that read,Find Your Serenity in a Lexus.

The ad always stood out to me because it wasgood.It had me wanting the peace and quiet of a Lexus even though there’s no way I could afford one.

I blink, looking over at Chase. “That commercial was your idea?”

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